Ever since Lily Gladstone graced the screen as Osage woman Mollie Kyle in Martin Scorceses’s Killers Of The Flower Moon, netizens have been actively campaigning for her awards season sweep.
Now, on the red carpet at the 81st Golden Globe Awards, the actress has set the tone for her month-long showering of honours.
Arriving at the 2024 Golden Globes, Gladstone is adhering to the sartorial adage of “dressing for the job you want”. The role in question? The winner of this year’s ‘Best Actress in a Motion Picture—Drama’.
Gladstone did so by bringing the procession of Indigenous designs she started at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival to Los Angeles’ Beverly Hilton Hotel. Or as she said during a pre-ceremony interview, “repeating a beat that works” referencing the sculptural Valentino Haute Couture ensemble she wore at the film’s debut.
Taking the floral step-and-repeat with her co-star Leonardo DiCaprio, Gladstone brought a touch of old Hollywood in her Pierpaolo Piccioli-designed white column dress and draped black cape. The latter a nod to the blankets and shawls worn by Gladstone in the film, her ancestors and the rich cultural significance and heritage the garment holds in Indigenous communities.
As a First Nations actress, Gladstone has perpetually used her platform—and her presence on the red carpet—to spotlight the myriad of must-know Native fashion talents. As we were disavowed a comprehensive press tour for Killers Of The Flower Moon due to SAG-AFTRA strike guidelines, Gladstone has delivered a taste of not only what could’ve been, but also what is to come at the Oscars.
However, Gladstone’s impeccable red carpet style isn’t the only way she’s spotlighting First Nation’s voices. As she’s continued to remind the mainstream of through interviews and speeches, her community is at the forefront of everything she does.
“I was raised on a reservation, went to public school. It’s a very normal, sort of working-class upbringing in one way, and in another way, I’m just a rez girl,” she told the New York Times ahead of the Golden Globes. “I can’t speak from the heart if I’m not connected to what’s real about all this,” she added. “I know that all of this attention on me right now means so much more than just me.”
“Native women do things in community. We do things with each other,” she also noted during her speech at ELLE‘s annual “Women In Hollywood” gala. “Our representation in Hollywood is a legacy of survival. Our representation in the stories that we tell, it’s really how we’ve kept going. And a part of that is the stories that women carry forward, the way that we carry each other forward.”
The breakout star will contend against Hollywood heavyweights like Annette Bening (Nyad) and Carey Mulligan (Maestro) in the aforementioned category, alongside emerging actresses Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla) and Greta Lee (Past Lives). We’re not typically the kind to wager on who’ll take home the titular gilded trophy, but we anticipate Gladstone’s victory based on this ensemble alone. A sartorial triumph, indeed.
